Walking down Dublin's South William Street, I glance at my phone to check I haven't somehow misplaced four days of my life.

It's a Monday evening in February and every bar is bustling with customers. That God awful saying, which represents the kind of arrogance associated with those who played two helping hands in this country's recession, pops into my head: 'The boom is back.'

But it's not, for people in rural Ireland anyway.

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